Business Class To Melbourne??

[w8pmc]

Evening, as the title says, i'm after some pointers for sensible priced flights to Melbourne in March 2019.

I'll be traveling from Manchester (UK) & ideally just one stop en route (not a full blown stopover as only going for 5-6 days)/

Emirates is the ideal route from MAN, but as you'd expect it's coming out as the most expensive (£3600ish). I hear about this departing EU (can't recall it's exact name & i don't mean Brexit), where the ticket would be say AMS-MEL & this could be significantly cheaper, however i don't know where to check out such fares. Happy if the saving's good enough to add an extra leg into the journey & can get to most European cities easy enough with their respective National carriers.

Thanks in advance.

[djc206]

We’ve just booked from Stockholm with Etihad but it stops twice so might not suit you. That was £1800 ish.

You’re thinking of ex EU.

Emirates are often cheaper from Italian cities so could be worth look at Milan or Rome and then booking a separate ticket from Manchester to get there.

If two of you are going Malaysia airlines have a bit of a sale on, Sydney is £2300 ish, not sure about Melbourne.

[NorthDave]

I travel on Emirates a bit and have a points account but my "elevated status" has expired. I always book economy but often get bumped up to Business and also often get emails a day or so before asking if I want to upgrade. I think it was £500 last time. Always worth asking at the gate if they have more leg room seats as this seems to be code for "please can I have an upgrade?".

Personally I would do the above and risk being in Economy but even as a tall fatty I dont mind economy on the A380. Money saved would pimp a hotel on arrival if you wanted to spend the budget?

[w8pmc]

NorthDave said:

I travel on Emirates a bit and have a points account but my "elevated status" has expired. I always book economy but often get bumped up to Business and also often get emails a day or so before asking if I want to upgrade. I think it was £500 last time. Always worth asking at the gate if they have more leg room seats as this seems to be code for "please can I have an upgrade?".

Personally I would do the above and risk being in Economy but even as a tall fatty I dont mind economy on the A380. Money saved would pimp a hotel on arrival if you wanted to spend the budget?

Thanks, that's a good call but not sure i would want to take the risk as 40hrs in Economy would be somewhat tough to look forward to. Will be staying with friends in Melbourne so any money saved would purely be a saving & of little use as towards the hotel etc.

I do have about 4000 miles with the Emirates loyalty scheme, but clearly not enough to use & likewise i've no status other than the basic level.

Emirates is of course the preferred given i can fly on the A380 direct to DXB from MAN & they have 3 flights a day so plenty of choice & also gives the lowest total travel time which is important given i'll only be staying in OZ for 4/5nights.

Maybe a Sale for Emirates will appear in the coming weeks, but was hoping perhaps an ex EU option would be available for closer to £2k, however not sure where to look for ex EU options?

[fizz47]

w8pmc said:

Evening, as the title says, i'm after some pointers for sensible priced flights to Melbourne in March 2019.

I'll be traveling from Manchester (UK) & ideally just one stop en route (not a full blown stopover as only going for 5-6 days)/

Emirates is the ideal route from MAN, but as you'd expect it's coming out as the most expensive (£3600ish). I hear about this departing EU (can't recall it's exact name & i don't mean Brexit), where the ticket would be say AMS-MEL & this could be significantly cheaper, however i don't know where to check out such fares. Happy if the saving's good enough to add an extra leg into the journey & can get to most European cities easy enough with their respective National carriers.

Thanks in advance.

Are you restricted on exact dates or anytime in March?

Just doing a qucik search on ex EU


Munich > Abu Dhabi > Melbourne on ETIHAD - Mar 5 - Mar 13 with only 2 hour stop overs in AD is coming at £2784

or

Oslo > Doha > Melbourne on QATAR - Mar 5 - Mar 11 with 3 hour stopevers - £2155

or

Paris > Singapore > Melbourne on Singapore Mar 4 - Mar 10 with 2 hour stopovers - £2550

I

Edited by fizz47 on Friday 14th September 11:25

[Amateurish]

Google Flights is good for this.

e.g. from Frankfurt £1980 with Malaysian

[w8pmc]

fizz47 said:

Are you restricted on exact dates or anytime in March?

Just doing a qucik search on ex EU


Munich > Abu Dhabi > Melbourne on ETIHAD - Mar 5 - Mar 13 with only 2 hour stop overs in AD is coming at £2784

or

Oslo > Doha > Melbourne on QATAR - Mar 5 - Mar 11 with 3 hour stopevers - £2155

or

Paris > Singapore > Melbourne on Singapore Mar 4 - Mar 10 with 2 hour stopovers - £2550

I

Edited by fizz47 on Friday 14th September 11:25

Dates unfortunately are fixed as flights are for the Australian F1 GP so not much movement i can apply.

Have looked at AMS & Paris for ex EU & not really seeing anything outstanding & some of the journey times really do increase with the extra leg each way.

[Amateurish]

What are the dates?

[w8pmc]

Amateurish said:

What are the dates?

Ideally fly out from MAN on 13th March, arriving in Melbourne either late on the 14th or early 15th.

Depart Melbourne ideally on Tuesday 19th March, but could fly either Monday 18th (probably with a sore head) or Wed 20th.

F1 GP is 15-17th March.

[Amateurish]

w8pmc said:

Ideally fly out from MAN on 13th March, arriving in Melbourne either late on the 14th or early 15th.

Depart Melbourne ideally on Tuesday 19th March, but could fly either Monday 18th (probably with a sore head) or Wed 20th.

F1 GP is 15-17th March.

£2250 with Qatar from Stockholm

[louiebaby]

For a bit of a guide:

https://www.turningleftforless.com/beginners-ex-eu...

I've never tried it yet, but might do another time...

[w8pmc]

Thanks for all suggestions.

Going to try BA to see the availability/cost to pay for Premium Economy & use Avios to upgrade to Club World.

Seen a few options via Germany with Lufthansa/Cathay that come in under £3k & Emirates (most direct) around the £3500 mark, but can't see any other options for the dates needed.